Chapter 10

PD Park watched as Kim Sung-woon walked into the broadcasting hall wearing gray pants that didn't match his outfit, and his expression darkened slightly, though he didn't say anything.

Sure enough, Yoo Jae-suk smoothly shifted the conversation to Kim Sung-woon.

Seeing Kim Sung-woon's natural and unpretentious performance, PD Park nodded slightly, "Not bad."

After a hilarious "butt-wiggling" game, it was finally decided that Team Kim would attack first in the "horse-riding" game.

Team Kim members were: Kim Sung-woon, Kim Je-dong, Lee Sung-jin, Dana, H, and Kim Jun-hui. The other guests were on Team Kang. Notably, due to Kang Ho-dong's presence, this segment had always been dominated by Team Kang.

"No wonder they put Ji-hyun on Team Kang, it's to offset Ho-dong's weight," Kim Sung-woon said with a smile as Team Kang prepared.

"Ha ha...," Yoo Jae-suk burst out laughing dramatically.

"Hey—," Kang Ho-dong, who had already assumed a position, suddenly "flew into a rage" upon hearing this and ran a few steps towards Kim Sung-woon. Then, as if remembering something, he put on a pitiful look and obediently returned to his place.

"What's going on? It seems Kang Ho-dong is a bit afraid of Kim Sung-woon?" the production staff whispered to each other in confusion.

PD Park was also very curious but noticed that no one in the hall seemed surprised, indicating they all knew the reason. Despite his admiration for Yoo Jae-suk's abilities, PD Park couldn't help but gesture to him to bring up the topic.

Yoo Jae-suk nodded slightly and continued hosting.

"Finally, it's Team Kang's turn to attack!" Due to Kim Jun-hui's mistake, Team Kang had the opportunity to attack.

"Why isn't Team Kim preparing yet?" Yoo Jae-suk pretended to be stern and shouted at them.

"Je-dong, you be the horse's head," Kim Sung-woon quickly pulled Kim Je-dong and said.

"No way! You have to be the horse's head," Kim Je-dong refused, "Your head is a national treasure, it can't be damaged in any way."

PD Park finally caught a hint and his eyes lit up as he began to scrutinize Kim Sung-woon, "Does he have something special about him?"

Lee Sung-jin and H also insisted that Kim Sung-woon be the horse's head.

"Saint-yun, if you're the horse's body, how can we dare to ride on you? You must be the horse's head," Kang Ho-dong suddenly rushed in and shouted urgently.

"Right!" Andy and Junjin also seized the opportunity to join in the persuasion.

"What's going on?" Yoo Jae-suk put on a curious look and cautiously touched Kim Sung-woon's head.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Kang Ho-dong, seeing this, "flew into a rage" and pushed Yoo Jae-suk down.

The others also joined in the condemnation, as if Yoo Jae-suk were a great sinner.

"I'm wrong!" Yoo Jae-suk knelt on the ground, raised his hands, and called out with a sad face, "But please tell me the reason, okay?"

Although he knew it was for the show's effect and that such sacrifices were common in Korean variety shows, Kim Sung-woon still quickly helped Yoo Jae-suk up.

"Do you know what this is?" Kang Ho-dong exaggeratedly pointed at Kim Sung-woon's head.

Yoo Jae-suk shook his head, looking thoroughly confused.

"It's a national treasure!" Kang Ho-dong loudly explained, "A genius from Seoul University's Foreign Language Department, proficient in seven languages besides Korean!"

"Ah!" Yoo Jae-suk opened his mouth wide like a fish out of water, unable to make a sound for a few moments. Finally, he put his hands on his knees and bowed to Kim Sung-woon, "Saint-yun, I'm sorry!"

Kim Sung-woon quickly bowed 90 degrees and helped Yoo Jae-suk up. Even for the show's effect, Kim Sung-woon wouldn't act rudely.

"Hmm?" PD Park frowned slightly, suspecting that Yoo Jae-suk and the others were exaggerating for the show's effect. He didn't think it was a particularly funny joke.

"Next, please welcome Mr. Kim Sung-woon to introduce us to x-man in seven languages," Yoo Jae-suk, as a seasoned host, of course, considered this and formally introduced Kim Sung-woon with respect.

Kim Sung-woon, of course, didn't refuse. He walked to the center and fluently introduced in seven languages, "Hello, welcome to SBS's variety show x-man."

"Very good!" PD Park couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Kim Sung-woon.

Koreans have a great respect for knowledge, and PD Park believed that this episode of x-man would attract a lot of attention, which would mean an increase in ratings.

"Clap, clap, clap!" The audience, including the staff, applauded.

After Kim Sung-woon finished his introduction, he didn't forget to bow 90 degrees in gratitude.

"Even in this situation, he remains humble and polite, which is rare," PD Park was increasingly satisfied with Kim Sung-woon.

Kim Sung-woon was pulled by Kim Je-dong to be the horse's head.

In the end, Team Kim won and received 1 million won.

After the "horse-riding" game, the next segment was the partner game. Due to the lack of female guests, there would definitely be male-male pairs.

During the break, Kim Sung-woon volunteered to pair with Kim Je-dong, and Yoo Jae-suk patted Kim Sung-woon's shoulder and agreed with a smile.

...

"MC Yoo's ability test—can MC Yoo successfully jump over the spinning hula hoop?"

"Of course, definitely!" As soon as Yoo Jae-suk's voice fell, Kim Sung-woon eagerly said.

"Why?" Kim Je-dong asked, puzzled.

"Because he's a grasshopper," Kim Sung-woon said confidently.

"Ha ha ha..." The hall burst into laughter again.

One of the main reasons variety shows are funny is the exaggerated reactions of the guests. Often, a simple joke becomes hilarious after the guests' exaggerated reactions, making the audience laugh along.

"Ah—" Yoo Jae-suk put a hand on his neck, looking defeated and speechless at Kim Sung-woon.

"Yay!" Kim Sung-woon and Kim Je-dong high-fived, looking confident of victory.

In the end, Yoo Jae-suk was awkwardly stuck between the hula hoops.

"How could I have thought that after years of not being a grasshopper, In-shik would have aged so much?" Kim Sung-woon, seeing the questioning looks from Kim Je-dong and others, explained nervously.

"Saint-yun! I..." As expected, Yoo Jae-suk was hit again, and the audience burst into laughter. Kim Je-dong nodded, accepting Kim Sung-woon's explanation.

...

"Male contestants must spin female contestants twice within ten seconds!"

"I'll do it," Kim Sung-woon volunteered to pair with Dana.

"Brother Saint-yun, hello," Dana whispered to Kim Sung-woon.

Kim Sung-woon was surprised that Dana was an S.M. Entertainment artist and could recognize him despite his changed appearance. He smiled and nodded at her.

"Your Chinese pronunciation is really good," Dana suddenly said to Kim Sung-woon in Chinese.

"Thank you, your Chinese is also great," Kim Sung-woon sincerely praised her. In Korea, many people know a bit of Chinese, but few speak it as fluently as Dana.

"Hey—, Saint-yun, I didn't expect you and Dana..." Yoo Jae-suk suddenly said with a suggestive tone.

"Dana is a junior from my former company," Kim Sung-woon explained with a smile.

"We understand," Yoo Jae-suk ignored Kim Sung-woon's explanation, gave them an ambiguous aura, and then skillfully moved on, loudly telling them to prepare to start.

Kim Sung-woon smiled helplessly, apologized softly, and then picked up Dana, spinning her twice cleanly and efficiently. He didn't want to be seen as a useless comedian.

"Didn't expect Kim Sung-woon to be so strong," Yoo Jae-suk said in surprise.

"Both physically and intellectually!" Kang Ho-dong held up two thumbs.

After this game, x-man had enough content for a week's broadcast. In the middle, the audience would vote for the guest they thought was the x-man, with over 70,000 participants, which surprised Kim Sung-woon.

Andy and Junjin, upon learning that Kim Sung-woon had left S.M., came over to talk to him and exchanged phone numbers. Notably, Dana also took the initiative to exchange numbers with Kim Sung-woon. S.M. Entertainment is known for disliking artists who leave the company, and the group Shinhwa had to pay a high price to leave and often faced suppression. Although Kim Sung-woon was unknown, Dana's straightforwardness made him appreciate this seemingly cold but cheerful girl.

Unconsciously, it was already 2 a.m. After having a late-night snack and a brief rest, everyone continued the show's recording.

The third major segment, a couple's activity called "Newlyweds Are Also Beautiful," surprised Kim Sung-woon when Dana chose him. However, Kim Sung-woon wasn't particularly interested in this segment. Although he performed well, it wasn't as impressive as his earlier performances.

Team Kim made a comeback and won 2 million won.

The fourth segment, a continuous speaking game, was one of the most popular segments of x-man. It was a pure pronunciation game. During his two years of service, Kim Sung-woon had practiced pronunciation and recited foreign languages every morning by the sea. Although he lacked some humor, his clear and bright pronunciation and flawless performance amazed everyone.

In this segment, many funny situations weren't deliberately created for humor but were genuinely difficult to pronounce, similar to Chinese tongue twisters. People who hadn't practiced found them challenging.

Team Kang won and received 2 million won.

Finally, the last segment was the final vote to choose the x-man. The guest with the most votes would go to the verification stage. If the guest with the most votes wasn't the real x-man, they would be verified in the order Yoo Jae-suk called out their names.

The votes were: Kim Jun-hui with 5 votes, Andy with 2 votes, Kang Ho-dong with 2 votes, Junjin with 1 vote, Dana with 1 vote, and Kim Je-dong with 1 vote.

In the end, Andy, as the x-man, won.

When the x-man recording was completed, it was already past 5 a.m. The guests hurriedly said their goodbyes and left. Only Kim Sung-woon, with no schedule, helped the staff clean up the set at a leisurely pace.

"Saint-yun, come with me," PD Park patted Kim Sung-woon's shoulder and called him aside.

"Great performance! Especially in the first two segments, I didn't expect you to be a student at Seoul University," PD Park said with a gentle smile.

"Thank you, PD," Kim Sung-woon said humbly.

"You don't need to help with the cleanup. Go home and rest. Your head is a national treasure," PD Park joked, "I've already scolded the staff member about the pants, so don't worry about it."

Kim Sung-woon was slightly taken aback but then understood he was referring to the pants. He smiled and said, "It's fine. I was actually worried about finding a funny moment. In a way, he helped me."

"Ha ha...," PD Park laughed and nodded, signaling Kim Sung-woon to go home and rest.

...